Well it’s been over a year since my last room escape post on the old bloggy blog and I have been to even MORE room escapes. What can I say?! I am still obsessed. I even create one in my classroom each year. There is nothing like unfolding a story and working toward a goal together. It’s so much fun! So, now I have even more reviews to share. Please read on to find out more room escapes you need to check out this year. If you missed part 1 of my post, check out the link below.
adventure
Theme Parks Around the World
It’s that time of year…theme park time! The My Vacation Pants Family loves a good theme park, so we thought it fitting to round up some of the best from around the globe. We collaborated with so many amazing people. Read on to find out where you need to plan your next theme park adventure. Continue reading
Put On Your Camping Vacation Pants
“How do you take your family camping?”
It’s a question that I’ve heard in my adult life far more than I ever thought I would. The second word gets out that we’re going camping, I am almost always asked this question. It usually comes from one of three types of people:
- Someone who’s never been camping before
- Someone who grew up camping, but doesn’t really know how to do it on their own as an adult
- Someone who used to enjoy camping, but doesn’t know how to go about it now that they have kids.
It’s shocking to me, because camping has always been a part of my life, and sharing it with my kids is a huge joy. Read on to find out how easy it is to take your family camping.
Put On Your Denmark Vacation Pants – Den Blå Planet Aquarium
We had a great time in Copenhagen, and we had some great adventures with our kiddos. When researching the area before our trip, we were really excited to visit the Den Blå Planet, which is actually the National Aquarium, located right outside of the hubbub of the heart of Copenhagen. Even though it was a short drive from the city center, it felt like we were in a tranquil place like no other. Read on to find out how to plan a trip to this amazing aquarium.
Put on Your Year-in-Review Vacation Pants
Welcome to 2018!!! When reflecting on the past year I always like to think about the highlights of the year. Our little family really had some amazing adventures this year. I would love to share with you some things you must try. I interviewed my family members this year (my husband Phil, my daughter Audrey (age 9), and Luke, my son (age 7). I will of course give you my input as well. Also, happy 2 year anniversary to the blog!!! We really enjoy sharing with you our expertise and hearing about your travel adventures as well. Here we go!
5 Ways To Have Way More Fun On a Road Trip (Especially With Kids) – My Vacation Shorts
Taking a road trip is one of our favorite ways to travel. Whether we set out from home, or fly to our destination and rent a car, road tripping is the best way to get an up close, personal feel for the places you are traveling. You can camp, stay in hotels, or some combination of both. Having the flexibility of driving a car around means you get to go where you want and when you want, without relying on tour guides or public transportation.
However, once kids enter the equation, some families give up on the road trip as a viable vacation option. Maybe they’ve seen the Vacation movies too many times, or maybe they just don’t think they, or their kids, will enjoy being cooped up in a car together for hours on end.
Well, we at My Vacation Pants have taken many fun and memorable road trip vacations with our kids, and we’re ready to tell you our secrets to making the most out of your automobile-assisted adventures with the entire family.
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The Ultimate Vacation Planning Guide – My Vacation Shorts
As we are about to embark on one of the biggest family vacations of our lives, I have been reflecting on vacation planning practices that we do before we go on a trip. We are about to travel to Europe for a month, which obviously requires some major planning, and I am trying to find a balance between getting things done in my day-to-day life and getting ready for my upcoming trip. It’s tough, but I have some tried and true methods that make sure the planning goes, well…according to plan. Here are a few of them, so you too can have peace of mind before you head out on your epic vacation adventure.
Put On Your Rhode Island Getaway Vacation Pants – New England Part 2
My fam bam recently did a trip around the New England area and we spent a couple days in picturesque Rhode Island. My husband and I are all about finding cheap airfare and then planning a vacation around that location. We usually fly to the cheapest place we can find, and then do a little road trip loop around the area. That’s exactly what we did for our most recent Spring Break Trip. We flew into New York City (JFK) because the husband found airfare on Jet Blue from Palm Springs, California to JFK, for a ridiculously low $132 a ticket. Of course we had to snatch up that deal. We plotted a route that would start in NYC and take us to Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, (with a short drive through New Jersey), and back to New York City. We spent two nights on a little island in Rhode Island. How cool is that? We stayed on an island in Rhode Island! Get ready to get all the hot tips you ever wanted on taking a very short trip in this very tiny state. Make sure you check out my first post from this series below.
Put on Your NYC (In Two Days!) Vacation Pants – New England Part 1
Taking the Adventure Route – My Vacation Shorts
I am so excited to introduce my first guest post writer. My husband, Phil, is pretty much the smartest human I know. He has been my editor on many of my writing adventures for about 20 years now. I have shared with you how we are a family that travels on one income because we wanted our children to be with a parent instead of being raised by someone other than us. My husband is a stay at home Dad and has been one since my daughter was born in 2008. He is an amazing one at that. In this first post by him, you will see the backstory to our whole traveling philosophy. Read on to find out how you too can choose to take The Adventure Route. Enjoy.
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Put on your Treehouse Hotel Vacation Pants
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| Out ‘n About Treesort located in Talkilma, Oregon. -2011 |
The Vacation Pants family goes on a unique trip to Medford Oregon. Included in this budget friendly trip are stays in a treehouse resort, beach hikes, Star Wars filming locations and, good food.
Trip Overview
This is probably the trip that I get asked about the most. Interestingly enough we took this trip in March of 2011, right after I had our second child, Luke. He was only five months old at the time. It was our first BIG trip as a new family of four. I was working part-time and we had very little money. We got some money back from our tax refund (a great way to take a trip) and we wanted to use the money to go somewhere far, but cheap. Using Google Flights, we found the cheapest possible place to fly during our time off. (This is how we plan a lot of our trips. More on that later). In this case, a flight to the town of Medford, Oregon popped up for $138 round trip, including all taxes and fees. We knew nothing about the area, but we were intrigued. With airfare that cheap, we could take a week long trip for less than our tax refund. So we looked to see what there is to do in and around Medford, Oregon. That is when we found the Out ‘n About Treesort in Talkilma. The treesort is located about an hour outside of Medford. We were amazed that we could stay in a real treehouse, so that sold the trip for us. We ended up renting a car and doing a little road trip around Southern Oregon and Northern California that I will go in to great detail about.
Trip Itinerary
Overall this was a 6 day, 5 night trip. The cheapest days to fly are usually Tuesdays and Wednesdays. So often this determines the length of our trip.
Day 1: Flew from Los Angeles, CA to Medford, OR. We stayed at a local motel in Grants Pass.
Day 2: Traveled to Talikma, Oregon to stay at the Out ‘n About Treesort.
Day 3: Traveled to Crescent City, CA to stay at the Curly Redwood Lodge
Day 4/5: Crescent City, CA
Day 6: Traveled back to Medford, OR to depart from the airport to return home.
Google Map It – Click a link for a map to the round trip road trip we took from the Medford, OR airport.
Trip Budget
Remember we go places that are cheap at the time of our vacation. Prices will vary, but this is what we paid at the time in March of 2011.
- Airfare – $138 per person, round trip, from Los Angles, CA to Medford, OR. We booked the airfare through Allegiant Airlines.
- Rental Car – $203 dollars for whole trip. It was an Avis Rental Car that we booked on priceline.com. It was the lowest published price at the time. We booked an economy car with unlimited mileage. They did not have free additional drivers at Avis, so I joined their rewards program for free, and one of the perks is a free additional driver, so both my husband and I were able to drive the car.
MVP (My Vacations Pants) Trip Tip: Find out what works best for you and your family BEFORE leaving on your trip. It is easy to get stressed when traveling, especially with small children. My husband, Phil and I have roles on our vacation that we very much stick to. For example, I do all the clothes packing for out trips, but Phil brings in all the luggage when we get to a hotel. Phil does most of the driving on road trips, I navigate on google maps, and use my Trip Advisor app to find good places to eat. Also, if we are all cozy in a hotel room, I run out and get us some food in the rental car. That’s why I sign up for additional driver. This is what works for us, what works for you?
- Gas – You can estimate how much gas you are going to use on a trip by using https://www.fueleconomy.gov/. All you do is put in your itinerary in the map section. Put what kind of car you will be driving and the website will give you a pretty amazing estimate of how much money you will be spending on the gas. For the entire trip, driving an economy car, it will be about $14.70. I am going to round up to $25.00 for the cost of side trips, and then you have to fill up the tank before you return it to the rental car place, so I calculate for this amazing road trip it will cost about $50 for the entire trip.
MVP Trip Tip: Don’t prepay for your gas at the rental car place. It is usually way more expensive than gas you can get right outside of the airport.
- Hotel – $307 for a five night trip. The most expensive lodging is obviously the Treesort. Also note, that since we went in March (summer months are their more expensive months) the Treesort was way more affordable.
- Activities –
- Jedidiah Smith State Park – $8
- Ocean World – $12.95 a person, but kids under 3 get in free, so our kids were free at the time. Children ages 3-11 are $7.95 a person.
- Bowling – We spent about $25 for shoe rentals for three, and two games of bowling. Go midday during a weekday for the best deals.
Trip Grand Total – $1041 – This total is based on 2 adults, one child, and one infant in your travel party.
MVP Trip Tip: I don’t include food in our trip budgets because you have to eat every day anyway. Food should already be in your budget at home. You may spend more on eating out on vacation, but you can also go to a local grocery store and brown bag it. We do a combination of both on our trips and we wind up spending close to what we spend at home for a week.
Trip Lodging
- Buona Sera Inn, located in Grants Pass, Oregon. This was cute little motel with uniquely decorated rooms. We thought it was perfect for a one night stay. What makes it special: It has beautiful murals painted around the hotel and cute rooms that are all decorated in their own unique theme. I can’t remember what we paid for it, but you can book a room through their website for $52 a night right now. Don’t forget about these independently run inns and motels. Many of them are hidden, affordable gems.
- Out ‘n About Treesort, located in Talkima, Oregon. We stayed in the Treezebo. This was truly a unique and memorable experience. You had to take a series of rope bridges and staircases to your room 45 feet above the ground. You can then use a pulley system to lift your luggage to your room. The room has a sink and a toilet, but showers are down on the ground in a shower house. There are some treehouse rooms that do have a private shower, but they cost a lot more. What makes it special: You are staying in an actual treehouse for goodness sakes! It is like a Swiss Family Tree House dream come true. They also have several activities at the treesort like a swimming hole, ropes course, giant swings, fire pit, etc. Fun for the whole family. We only stayed one night because the place books up far in advance, so we got a last minute room there. We paid $125 for the one night.
- Curly Redwood Lodge located in Crescent City, California. Their website links do not work, so you have to call to book a room. At the time we called and they gave us a large room with two queen beds for $65 a night. Here is a tip: if you cannot book online because they don’t have those capabilities, you can often get some killer deals. What makes it special: It is right across the street from the harbor. All of the wood in the hotel was made from one huge curly redwood tree that produced over 57,000 feet of lumber. It’s a marvel to be seen.
Trip Activities
- The treehouse resort has built in activities that are included in your stay. We explored the grounds and found a ropes course, a swimming hole (it is closed in the winter, or at least too cold to go in), trails to hike around, rope bridges and swings, a net play area, a campfire etc.
- Tsunami Lanes – We went bowling. Bumper bowling is especially fun on a rainy evening.
- Beachfront Park – Amazing park with fort like structures and super amazing swings for young children. THIS PARK WAS FREE!!!
- Ocean World – It was very small aquarium in Crescent City, but fun for our young children. They have a touch tank and a seal show.
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Crescent Beach – We walked on the beach and had a blast. It was a beautiful walk.
- Jedidiah Smith Redwood State Park – We went here and it was like driving through the Ewok planet in Return of the Jedi. Why? Because this area is where those scenes in the movie were shot! Gorgeous foliage and beautiful, huge, and ancient redwood trees. It cost $8 for our whole vehicle to drive through the park.
Trip Eats
- Chart Room Marina and Restaurant – This was our splurge for the trip. The restaurant is situated right on the water and it was right across the street from the hotel. The food was good, but pricey, but we know you’re paying for waterfront dining as well. Kid Friendly: YES. They brought Audrey a jar of crayons and some coloring pages.
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Wild River and Brewing Company – We knew this was a local hangout as soon as we walked in. The pizza was good and I didn’t get any weird stares from breastfeeding my son in public. They also had a fun little hike right in the parking lot, so that was cool too.
Overall this was a fantastic trip that you will not regret taking with your young family. I mean, come on, don’t you want to be one of the few people that has stayed in a treehouse hotel? People asked us all throughout the trip why we would fly to Medford, Oregon on vacation, but you can see from these pictures that it was a world class trip in an unexpected location. It is a testament to the fact that there is adventure everywhere, you just have to look for it.
This was also an important trip for our little family because I wanted my kiddos to be trained at a young age on traveling and adventuring. Now my kids are 7 and 5 years old and they have been to many cool places. They love hotels and they love traveling. I think it all comes back to this trip that I took my 2 year old and my 5 month old on. It was a fantastic introduction.
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Trip Links
http://www.tripadvisor.com/members/Vecchio7
https://www.allegiantair.com/
http://treehouses.com/joomla/index.php/treesort
https://www.google.com/flights/